4 ms·

It's been a little over 10 years since the first bitcoins were mined and today's market cap is $147,490,754,701. Given that there are now bitcoin investment pro

It's been a little over 10 years since the first bitcoins were mined and today's market cap is $147,490,754,701. Given that there are now bitcoin investment products like ETFs, some folks have a portion of their 401k's invested in bitcoin. It certainly will be competition for central banks, especially in countries where the monetary policy is kinda wacky, like Venezuela, where bitcoin is breaking usage records. Here's an article by a Venezuelan economist: "Bitcoin Has Saved My Family": https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/23/opinion/sunday/venezuela-bitcoin-inflation-cryptocurrencies.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/23/opinion/sunday/venezuela-.... He was only able to feed his family because he kept his money in bitcoin and not in bolívars, which was experiencing daily inflation of 3.5%. If I recall correctly, early on in the life of Bitcoin, the United States had to infuse $14 trillion into the economy to save the banks and keep the country from going into a depression. There's only so long people are going to put up with near zero interest rates or negative interest rates in some countries and with a slow down seemingly around the corner, Bitcoin's algorithmic certainly will look pretty good compared to the somewhat irrational economic policies that have been implemented.

asjw 7y ago
Bitcoins are valued 40 billion dollars right now, it's less that the net worth of Larry Page and less that the GDP of Myanmar, one of the poorest countries in the world. If some folks risked their 401k on bitcoin it changes nothing. If you own bitcoins in countries where inflation is double digit and you think they will save your family, think again: they would most probably get you killed or robbed.
- vageli 7y ago
  > If you own bitcoins in countries where inflation is double digit and you think they will save your family, think again: they would most probably get you killed or robbed. How so? It's not like correlating who owns which address is easy, and any smart person has their funds distributed across several wallets. So if you rob me of my bitcoins and I give you access to a wallet that doesn't contain all of my funds, how would you know any better?
  - alwillis 7y ago
    Also, most people who have considerable wealth in bitcoin has them in a multi signature wallet, like a 3 of 5—spending the money requires the use of 3 of the 5 authorized private keys.
- alwillis 7y ago
  You’re missing a digit—it’s $140+ billion, not $40 billion.
kenny87 7y ago
> It certainly will be competition for central banks, especially in countries where the monetary policy is kinda wacky, like Venezuela, where bitcoin is breaking usage records. Zimbabwe also: https://qz.com/africa/1662753/bitcoin-crypto-soar-in-zimbabwe-again-after-us-dollar-ban/ https://qz.com/africa/1662753/bitcoin-crypto-soar-in-zimbabw... There's really quite an opportunity here for Bitcoin to help people in these countries leap their financial markets forward a few stages in development: https://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/f12930a4-a78b-43c0-9fe1-35018cdd9fb5/EMCompass+Note+44.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CVID=m4Qcm5N https://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/f12930a4-a78b-43c0-9fe1-...

asjw 7y ago

Bitcoins are valued 40 billion dollars right now, it's less that the net worth of Larry Page and less that the GDP of Myanmar, one of the poorest countries in the world. If some folks risked their 401k on bitcoin it changes nothing. If you own bitcoins in countries where inflation is double digit and you think they will save your family, think again: they would most probably get you killed or robbed.

vageli 7y ago
> If you own bitcoins in countries where inflation is double digit and you think they will save your family, think again: they would most probably get you killed or robbed. How so? It's not like correlating who owns which address is easy, and any smart person has their funds distributed across several wallets. So if you rob me of my bitcoins and I give you access to a wallet that doesn't contain all of my funds, how would you know any better?
- alwillis 7y ago
  Also, most people who have considerable wealth in bitcoin has them in a multi signature wallet, like a 3 of 5—spending the money requires the use of 3 of the 5 authorized private keys.
alwillis 7y ago
You’re missing a digit—it’s $140+ billion, not $40 billion.

kenny87 7y ago

> It certainly will be competition for central banks, especially in countries where the monetary policy is kinda wacky, like Venezuela, where bitcoin is breaking usage records. Zimbabwe also: https://qz.com/africa/1662753/bitcoin-crypto-soar-in-zimbabwe-again-after-us-dollar-ban/ https://qz.com/africa/1662753/bitcoin-crypto-soar-in-zimbabw... There's really quite an opportunity here for Bitcoin to help people in these countries leap their financial markets forward a few stages in development: https://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/f12930a4-a78b-43c0-9fe1-35018cdd9fb5/EMCompass+Note+44.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CVID=m4Qcm5N https://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/f12930a4-a78b-43c0-9fe1-...